Insert for coreless roll of wire



Dec- 20, 1955 R. N. BoNNET'r INSERT FOR CORELESS ROLL OF WIRE Filed Nov.

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United States Patent O INSERT FOR CORELESS RQLL F WIRE Robert N. Bonnett, Wellesley Hills, Mass., assigner to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army Application November 15, 1952, Serial No. 320,753

2 Claims. (Cl. 242-.-128) The present invention relates to dispenser packages of field telephone wires such as are used by the Armed Forces of the United States, and in which the wire pays out from the center of a coiled roll of wire in the package. More particularly, it is a device which simplifies the packaging of the wire and which prevents the wire from getting snarled as it pays out from the package.

Such dispenser packages of field telephone wire are particularly convenient for laying telephone lines by troops in the field. Prior to the adoption of this type of dispenser package by the Armed Forces of the United States, field telephone wire was wound on expensive heavy metal drums or reels which were heavy and awkward to handle. ln laying telephone lines the reel had to be rotated on an axle. The axle through the reel was either carried by two men or mounted for rotation on a stationary rack which was set on the ground or carried in a moving vehicle. Furthermore, the reels being expensive, the empty reels were salvaged for re-use whenever possible, which took up valuable time, eort and shipping space.

Now, the reel has been eliminated and the present type of dispenser package as delivered to the usen-that is, the consumer, is as light as possible, being simply a coiled roll of wire packaged in a fabric covering without any spool therein. Since the wire pays out from the center of the package, the package does not have to be rotated and axles 0r racks are unnecessary. The trouble and expense involved in salvaging the empty reels is done away with and fewer men and less equipment are needed to lay telephone lines. The wire will pay out as the package is carried along by one man, or else the package may be set on the ground and the wire pulled from it. In addition wire may be laid from moving vehicles faster than was possible previously. There is no friction of an axle rotating on a rack which slowed down the dispensing of Wire from a reel and the frequent stoppages caused by the wire winding back over itself when the reel rotated too fast have been eliminated. As a result it is now even possible to lay wire from airplanes.

However, when wire is drawn out from the center of a coiled roll, the successive convolutions of wire inside the roll tend to loosen prematurely and frequently a loop forms around the loose convolution and causes withdrawal of the wire in a snarled condition.

At the present time this trouble has been overcome, wholly or in part, by coating the wire with an adhesive as it is wound into the roll. This holds each convolution in position in the roll until it is forcibly peeled from the center of the roll. However, the application of the adhesive is necessarily a dirty operation which increases the difficulty and expense of packaging the wire. Also, being coated with adhesive, the wire is diicult and dirty to handle after it has been paid out of the package. For example, when telephone line men take up old telephone lines to salvage the wire for reuse, the adhesive on the wire comes off on their hands and is thereby transferred to the tools and equipment they must handle in their 2,727,703 Patented Dec. 20, 1955 work. Aside from thus making the tools and equipment sticky to handle, the adhesive gums up wire cutters and wire pick up machinery and makes frequent cleaning necessary to keep them in working order.

'I'he present invention is a device which is inserted through the axial hole in the dispenser package, to guide the wire and keep it from getting snarled as it pays out of the package. Use of this device makes it unnecessary to coat the wire with adhesive. The manufacture of dispenser packages containing coils of wire is thus easier and cleaner, and the cost is reduced. Old telephone lines may be salvaged Without getting the linemen and their equipment sticky, and without gumming up their tools.

Further objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings in which: Y

Fig. 1 is a side elevation partly broken away showing a dispenser roll of wire with an insert of this invention in place therein;

Fig. 2 is a front end view of Fig. l (from the right side of Fig. l).

Fig. 3 is a sectional view along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, showing the dispenser package and the insert after some of the wire has been dispensed from the dispenser.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the insert of this invention.

Fig. 5 is a bottom view of Fig. 4.

Referring now to the drawing and particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, at 10 is indicated a dispenser package of wire 11. In the dispenser package 10 the wire 11 is wound in a coreless roll and is encased in a fabric cover 12. This fabric covering 12 is ordinarily made of canvas and is formed of two pieces, taped together around the periphery of the roll. There are holes 13 and 13a respectively through the fabric covering at the opposite ends of the package. These holes are in line with the hole through the center of the roll so` there is a hole completely through the center of the package 10. The diameter of each of the holes 13 and 13a is substantially equal to the diameter of the hole through the coreless center of a full roll of wire 11 in the package 10. There is a rubber grommet 14 around each of the holes 13 and 13a.

The wire 11 pays out from the hole through the center of the package. Successive convolutions of the wire are peeled from the innermost convolutions of wire of the roll and drawn out from the end of package 10 which is the pay-out end A. The other end of the package is the standing or base end B.

The end of the wire 11 which comes from the package first is the pay-out end 11a, and the other end is the standing end 11b. After the wire 11 is wound in a roll and before it is packaged the pay-out end 11a is at the coreless interiorof the roll and the standing end 11b is at the periphery of the roll. Before the fabric cover 12 is put on, the standing end 11b is led across the back or bottom side of the roll to the interior of the roll, so that both pay-out end 11a and the standing end 11b are in the hole in the center of the dispenser package 10 (see Fig. 2).` In this way,a number of dispenser packages 10 of wire can be spliced in a series. The end 11a of one package is spliced to the end 11b of another package and the wire will pay out of the packages in succession Without interruption. It is to` be understood, however, that coreless coils and uses of such a dispenser package are well known and form no part of the present invention.

Looking at Figs. l and 3, an insert 15, according vto the present invention, is a cylindrical tube which is inserted through the hole through the center of the dispenser package 10.

As shown in Figs. 4 and 5 the insert 15 is a split tube of the same diameter as the holes 13 and 13a. It is at least as long as the hole through the dispenser package, but for reasons which will be subsequently explained, it is more satisfactory if it is slightly longer. At one end it has a ange 16, and there is a slit or slot 19 through it and along its length.

The drawing illustrates an insert 1.5 made of heavy cardboard. The ange 16 as shown is formed by making a series of slits cut at right angles to the base edge of the tube, thus forming the edge material into tabs, and bending the tabs thus formed outward from the tube and then stapling or stitching them to a separate planiform cardboard flange ring 18 which nts around the tube. It will be appreciated, however, that the material of which the insert 1S is made and the particular construction may be varied without departing from the spirit of this invention.

Referring to Figs. l and 2, the insert 15 is inserted through the center of the dispenser' package 1t) with the ange 16 againt the grommet 14 at the standing end B of the package.

The standing end 11b and the pay-out end 11a of the wire 11 extend through the slit 19 into the center of the insert 15.

These ends are shown curled up in the center of the dispenser package so as to be out of the way when the package is stored or shipped, but easily accessible when the Wire is to be paid out.

When starting to pay the wire out of the package, the pay-out end 11a is pulled out of the insert 15 through the pay-out end A. The end of the wire slides along the slit 19 to the end A of the package Where the wire slips out through the slit to the outside of the insert. Then as more wire is drawn out, it comes out between the periphery of the insert 15 and the gromniet 14 on payout end A of the package.

Looking at Fig. 3, it will be seen that as successive convolutions of the wire pay out, they are unwound in a circular path around the core insert 15. Since the diameter of the core insert 15 is the same as the diameter of the holes 13 and 13a through the cover 12, the wire is pinched between the periphery of the insert and the edge of the hole 13a as indicated at 20. A convolution of wire being unwound from the center of the roll is indicated by the section of wire between 2i) and 21, 21 being the point at which the wire loosens from roll. This convolution is loosely supported by the insert 15 and is prevented from falling or springing laterally out of the roll by being held at 20. In this way, the unwindin'g of each successive convolution is guided and kept under control so that the convolution next in line cannot loosen prematurely and get out of line to get snarled.

At the same time, the gromrnet at the base of the package as well as the one at the top firmly engages the tube 15 retaining it securely in place. Owing to the base of the tube being less subject to exure than the top, the engagement of the grommet at the base is more positive than the engagement of the upper grommet, making the retention and anchoring of the tube 15 more eiective. l't will also be appreciated that the weight of the package resting upon the fiange 16 serves additionally to steady and anchor the tube 15 in proper position.

The slit 19 along the length of the core insert 15 makes the diameter of the insert 15 flexible, so that the wire 11 is pinched against the inside diameter of the hole 13a with a yielding pressure which will not damage the insulation of the wire.

By making the insert 15 slightly longer than the hole through the package 10, the possibility of the hole 13a in the cover 12 slipping out over the end of the insert 15 is prevented. For example, when a part of the wire 11 has been dispensed from the package 10, the side of the cover 12 is then loose and free to billow out and might otherwise billow out over the pay-out end of the insert 15 and disrupt its guiding and holding function.

In practice it has been found that when an insert according to this invention is used as described herein, it guides wire out of a dispenser package, such as the dispenser package 1), without tangling or snarling and the wire need not be coated with adhesive as has been the practice heretofore.

It is to be understood that the particular design and construction of the preferred form of my invention as described above may be varied by the substitution of equivalent elements and by modifying elements not essential for the function of the invention as disclosed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Therefore, what I claim is:

1. In a dispenser package for containing a roll of wire and paying wire from the center of the roll, a cylindrical fabric housing for encasing said roll of wire comprising at wall sides each having a center opening, a rubber grommet secured to each wall and encircling said opening therein, a removable core member having a cylindrical portion of substantially equal diameter as said openings and of sutiicient length to extend at least between said openings, said portion being provided with a longitudinal slit therein to provide a flexible surface at the extremity only of the core, a planit'orm relatively rigid flange portion afxed at one end of said cylindrical portion whereby insertion of said core member in said openings with a ange portion in external Contact with the housing permits wire to be paid out between the periphery of the core and the adjacent edge of the rubber grommet.

2. A wire dispenser for a coiled roll of wire having an axial opening therethrough whereby wire is paid out from the center of the roll, comprising a collapsible circular fabric housing for the roll of wire having axial center openings at respective sides, resilient edge members secured to said housing and encircling said openings for engaging and positioning an insertable core, an insertable core having a diameter substantially equal to the diameter of the openings and at least as long as the distance between said openings and having a longitudinal slit therein to provide a flexible surface at one extremity of said core whereby wire being paid out from the inside of the package emerges between and engages trictionally against the periphery of the core and the adjacent resilient edge, and a rigid coaxial radial ange on the base of the core to engage the face of said housing around one said center opening as a stop for the core and support for the housing.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

